Raw News

Nearly 300 dead in Philippines from Typhoon Bopha

By Bullit MarquezThe Associated Press

Posted:
12/06/2012 12:01:00 AM MST

Updated:
12/06/2012 03:04:26 AM MST

Philippine villagers on Wednesday cross a road destroyed at the height of Typhoon Bopha. Hundreds of people have died and hundreds more remain missing in the wake of the deadliest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, the civil defense chief said. "Entire families may have been washed away," a disaster official said. (Ted Aljibeted Aljibe, AFP/Getty Images)

NEW BATAAN, Philippines — Parents searching for missing children examined a row of mud-stained bodies covered with banana leaves while survivors dried their soaked belongings on roadsides Wednesday, a day after a typhoon killed about 350 people in the southern Philippines.

Officials fear more bodies might be found as rescuers reach hard-hit areas that were isolated by landslides, floods and downed communications.

At least 200 people died in the worst-hit province of Compostela Valley when Typhoon Bopha lashed the region Tuesday, including 78 villagers and soldiers who died in a flash flood that swamped two emergency shelters and a military camp, said provincial spokeswoman Fe Maestre.

About 80 people survived the deluge in New Bataan with injuries, and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who visited the town, said nearly 400 others remained missing.

"These were whole families among the registered missing," Roxas told the ABS-CBN TV network. "Entire families may have been washed away."

The farming town of 45,000 people was a muddy wasteland of collapsed houses and coconut and banana trees felled by Bopha's ferocious winds.

Bodies of victims were laid on the ground for viewing by people searching for missing relatives. Some were badly mangled after being dragged by raging flood waters over rocks and other debris. A man sprayed insecticide on the remains to keep away swarms of flies.

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A father wept when he found the body of his child after lifting a plastic cover. A mother, meanwhile, went away in tears, unable to find her children. "I have three children," she said, flashing three fingers before a TV cameraman.

Dionisia Requinto, 43, felt lucky to have survived with her husband and their eight children after swirling floodwaters surrounded their home. She said they made their way up a hill to safety, bracing themselves against boulders and fallen trees as they climbed.

"The water rose so fast," she said. "It was horrible. I thought it was going to be our end."

In nearby Davao Oriental, the coastal province first struck by the typhoon as it blew from the Pacific Ocean, at least 115 people died, mostly in three towns that were so battered that it was hard to find any buildings with roofs remaining, said provincial officer Freddie Bendulo and other officials.

"We had a problem where to take the evacuees," said Davao Oriental Gov. Corazon Malanyaon. "All the evacuation centers have lost their roofs."

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies issued an urgent appeal for $4.8 million to help people directly affected by the typhoon.

As of Wednesday evening, the typhoon was over the South China Sea west of Palawan province. It was blowing northwestward and could be headed to Vietnam or southern China, according to government forecasters.

Residents survey the damage at their house in New Bataan on Wednesday, after Typhoon Bopha hit the Philippines. (Ted Aljibe, AFP/Getty Images)